Small manufacturing businesses are a large part of the U.S. manufacturing base, but the available measures use different populations. The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business here as having fewer than 500 employees, while Census manufacturing and e-commerce figures generally cover payroll establishments across the sector.
Key Small Manufacturing Business Statistics
The following figures summarize the scale, digital commerce and operating environment of U.S. small manufacturing businesses and the broader manufacturing sector:
- In 2021, 603,348 small manufacturing businesses operated in the United States, using the SBA definition of fewer than 500 employees.
- In 2021, small U.S. manufacturers employed 4.8 million workers.
- In 2021, small U.S. manufacturers paid more than $277 billion in payroll.
- In 2021, small manufacturing firms represented 98% of all U.S. manufacturing firms.
- In 2022, U.S. manufacturing sales, shipments or revenue totaled $7.0487 trillion across NAICS 31–33 payroll establishments.
- In 2022, U.S. manufacturing e-shipments totaled $4.8259 trillion.
- In 2022, e-shipments represented 68.5% of U.S. manufacturing sales, shipments or revenue.
- In 2022, food manufacturing recorded $1.0392 trillion in sales, shipments or revenue in the United States.
- In 2022, beverage and tobacco product manufacturing recorded $174.997 billion in sales, shipments or revenue in the United States.
- In 2022, textile mills recorded $27.023 billion in sales, shipments or revenue in the United States.
- In 2022, apparel manufacturing e-shipments totaled $4.904 billion in the United States.
- In 2022, petroleum and coal products manufacturing e-shipments totaled $577.253 billion in the United States.
- In 2022, chemical manufacturing e-shipments totaled $612.522 billion in the United States.
- In the 2012 Economic Census advance report, U.S. manufacturing employed 11,268,906 people.
- In the 2012 Economic Census advance report, U.S. manufacturing annual payroll was $593.710 billion.
- In 2023, 71% of surveyed U.S. manufacturing small businesses cited supply-chain issues as an operational challenge.
- In 2023, 53% of surveyed U.S. manufacturing small businesses cited hiring or retaining qualified staff as an operational challenge.
- In 2023, 55% of surveyed U.S. manufacturing small businesses cited reaching customers or growing sales as an operational challenge.
Contents
- Key Small Manufacturing Business Statistics
- Small Manufacturing Business Firms, Employment and Payroll
- Manufacturing Revenue and E-Commerce Statistics
- Small Manufacturing Business Operational Challenges and Technology
- Manufacturing Employment, Payroll and Production Benchmarks
- Manufacturing Structure, Exports and Ownership Context
- Small Manufacturing Business Trends and Market Signals
Small Manufacturing Business Firms, Employment and Payroll
The SBA’s 2021 manufacturing profile shows how broad the small-business population is. These figures count small manufacturing firms under the fewer-than-500-employees definition and should not be read as an employer-firm-only series.
| Measure | United States, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Small manufacturing businesses | 603,348 firms |
| Small-manufacturer employment | 4.8 million workers |
| Small-manufacturer payroll | More than $277 billion |
| Share of all manufacturing firms | 98% |
Source: Facts About Small Business: Manufacturing Statistics 2025. The payroll figure is reported as more than $277 billion, so it is a rounded lower-bound value; the 98% figure is a share of firms, not employment or output.
The scale of the firm population matters when interpreting other statistics. A subsector total from the Economic Census can describe substantial manufacturing activity while still saying nothing specific about the revenue, staffing or technology adoption of the small firms within it.
Manufacturing Revenue and E-Commerce Statistics
The 2022 Census e-commerce table covers U.S. NAICS 31–33 establishments of payroll firms. It reports sales, shipments or revenue and e-shipments; e-shipments are online orders accepted through systems such as the Internet, extranet, EDI or email, and payment does not have to occur online.
| Manufacturing group | 2022 sales, shipments or revenue | 2022 e-shipments | E-shipments share |
|---|---|---|---|
| All manufacturing, NAICS 31–33 | $7.0487 trillion | $4.8259 trillion | 68.5% |
| Food manufacturing | $1.0392 trillion | $751.3 billion | 72.3% |
| Beverage and tobacco products | $174.997 billion | $137.556 billion | 78.6% |
| Textile mills | $27.023 billion | $20.271 billion | 75.0% |
| Textile product mills | $23.082 billion | $15.305 billion | 66.3% |
| Apparel manufacturing | $9.938 billion | $4.904 billion | 49.3% |
| Leather and allied products | $4.801 billion | $2.726 billion | 56.8% |
Source: Manufacturing: E-Commerce Statistics for the U.S.: 2022. All rows cover payroll establishments in the named subsector, not small businesses only, and the e-commerce measure is not necessarily direct-to-consumer sales.
The table shows why online-order data can be useful to a small manufacturer assessing a market without functioning as a small-business adoption rate. For example, apparel’s 49.3% e-shipments share and beverage and tobacco’s 78.6% share describe the value of orders across their full payroll-establishment populations.
Small Manufacturing Business Operational Challenges and Technology
The Federal Reserve’s 2023 Small Business Credit Survey provides a different lens: self-reported challenges among surveyed small employer firms in manufacturing. These are survey estimates, not an administrative census, and the technology response does not identify a particular tool or system.
- 71% of surveyed manufacturing small businesses cited supply-chain issues as an operational challenge in 2023.
- 53% cited hiring or retaining qualified staff as an operational challenge in 2023.
- 27% cited utilizing technology as an operational challenge in 2023.
- 28% cited complying with government regulations as an operational challenge in 2023.
- 7% cited ensuring customer or employee health and safety as an operational challenge in 2023.
Source: 2024 Firms in Focus chartbooks on small business data. The figures apply to manufacturing small employer firms responding to the Federal Reserve SBCS and retain the survey’s wording and respondent-population limitations.
The pattern places supply chains and people ahead of technology as reported challenges. That does not establish causation or show that technology investments solve either issue; it records what surveyed firms identified as operational obstacles during 2023.
Manufacturing Employment, Payroll and Production Benchmarks
Longer-run benchmarks help separate historical scale from current measures. The 2012 Economic Census advance report is a historical reference on the 2007 NAICS basis, while the 2022 first-look release is a national estimate that later detailed releases can supersede.
| Measure | Period and population | Reported value |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing establishments | 2012 Economic Census advance report; U.S. employer establishments, NAICS 31–33 | 296,605 |
| Manufacturing employment | 2012 Economic Census advance report; U.S. employer establishments | 11,268,906 people |
| Manufacturing annual payroll | 2012 Economic Census advance report; U.S. employer establishments | $593.710 billion |
| Manufacturing sales, shipments, receipts or revenue | 2012 Economic Census advance report; U.S. employer establishments | $5.756 trillion |
| Manufacturing value of shipments | 2022 Economic Census first-look release; U.S. manufacturing, NAICS 31–33 | $7.1 trillion estimate |
Sources: 2022 NAICS Sector 31-33—Manufacturing and 2022 Economic Census First Look. The 2012 figures are historical benchmarks and broader than small manufacturing businesses; the $7.1 trillion value is a first-look national estimate, not a 2026 value.
The 2012 and 2022 measures should not be treated as a single perfectly matched growth series. They differ in release context, definitions and timing, and the 2022 first-look shipment figure is explicitly an estimate.
Manufacturing Structure, Exports and Ownership Context
The supplied manufacturing measures are primarily domestic sector and establishment statistics rather than export or ownership tables. Their most useful structural distinction is therefore between the SBA small-firm universe and Census payroll-establishment universes.
The SBA count of 603,348 small manufacturing businesses in 2021 includes firms under the fewer-than-500-employees threshold, while the Census e-commerce table covers establishments of firms with paid employees across manufacturing. Those scopes overlap, but they are not interchangeable.
The Census subsector data also demonstrate the range of manufacturing activity represented by the broader sector:
- Wood product manufacturing recorded $172.446 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $90.668 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 52.6% of sales, shipments or revenue.
- Paper manufacturing recorded $220.328 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $172.808 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 78.4%.
- Printing and related support activities recorded $90.914 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $49.390 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 54.3%.
Source: Manufacturing: E-Commerce Statistics for the U.S.: 2022. These are all payroll establishments in the named subsectors, not small-business-only or export-only figures.
Small Manufacturing Business Trends and Market Signals
The 2022 e-commerce results provide a broad market signal: online orders represented 68.5% of manufacturing sales, shipments or revenue across U.S. NAICS 31–33 payroll establishments. That percentage describes the value of accepted online orders, not the share of firms with a website, online store or direct-to-consumer channel.
Energy, chemical and selected consumer-product subsectors show different levels and scales:
- Petroleum and coal products manufacturing recorded $883.348 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $577.253 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 65.3%.
- Chemical manufacturing recorded $900.973 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $612.522 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 68.0%.
- Textile product mills recorded $23.082 billion in sales, shipments or revenue and $15.305 billion in e-shipments in 2022; e-shipments were 66.3%.
Source: Manufacturing: E-Commerce Statistics for the U.S.: 2022. Subsector percentages are comparable within the 2022 table, but they do not measure small-firm adoption rates.
The operational survey adds a current-period business perspective to those market measures. In 2023, surveyed manufacturing small businesses most often identified supply-chain issues, reaching customers or growing sales, and qualified-staff hiring or retention among the reported challenges, while technology utilization was cited by 27%.
Source: 2024 Firms in Focus chartbooks on small business data. Survey responses are self-reported and should not be generalized beyond the defined responding population.